Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they launched a missile towards Israel on Wednesday, which Israel said it intercepted after alarms sounded in several areas.
The armed group continues to launch missiles and drones at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, even after recent deadly U.S. strikes on Houthi-controlled areas aimed to reduce their capabilities.
REUTERS
LONDON – Thousands of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of East Jerusalem to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover on Thursday.
The Jerusalem Governorate, a body affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, said that Israeli settlers entered the site through the Mughrabi Gate in groups and performed Jewish prayers at the site. Settlers also toured Bab Al-Rahma on the eastern wall of the compound, which was a site of conflict between Israeli police and Muslim worshippers in 2019.
Passover is observed from April 12 to 20, when Jewish communities commemorate the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
Far-right Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot, from the Religious Zionism Party, performed in Al-Aqsa the Talmudic ritual known as “epic prostration,” in which the worshipper bows low to the ground in a display of humility and reverence.
Thousands of Jewish worshippers performed the Priest’s Blessing at the Western Wall, a plaza outside the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the fifth day of Passover.
Israeli forces implemented strict security measures, turning the Al-Aqsa area into a military zone and preventing Palestinians from entering, the Wafa news agency reported.
On Tuesday, Israeli authorities closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, as part of security measures during Passover.
The closure meant Palestinians were barred from accessing the site for two days as Israeli settlers celebrated Passover, Wafa added.
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JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said Wednesday it is expanding the “Morag Corridor,” a new dividing line in the southern Gaza Strip, and has turned roughly a third of the enclave into “security zones” under full Israeli military control.
An infographic video released by the military showed the “Morag Corridor” running through an area between Rafah and Khan Younis, cutting off Rafah from Khan Younis and central Gaza.
In the video, Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city, appeared almost completely razed, with only a few severely damaged buildings left.
“As part of the operation, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has achieved full operational control over several key areas and routes throughout Gaza. Approximately 30 percent of the strip’s territory is now designated as an Operational Security Perimeter,” the military said in a statement.
Apart from the “Morag Corridor,” Israel has also established the “Netzarim Corridor” during the war, a military buffer zone in central Gaza aimed at isolating Gaza City and northern Gaza from the rest of the enclave.
Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza since March 2. It then ended a two-month ceasefire with Hamas on March 18 and resumed deadly air and ground assaults on the enclave.
The military said since March 18, it has carried out airstrikes on about 1,200 targets in Gaza using approximately 350 fighter jets and other aircraft.
The renewed Israeli attacks have so far killed 1,652 Palestinians and injured 4,391 others, Gaza health authorities said Wednesday, adding the death toll in the enclave since the war began in October 2023 has risen to 51,025, with 116,432 injured.
XINHUA
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa on Wednesday condemned Israel’s continuous bombing of civilian targets, including hospitals in Gaza, calling it a “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law.
This came after the missile strike by Israeli forces on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital — reportedly the last functional hospital in Gaza City — on Sunday, according to a statement issued by the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). It said the attack on the hospital forced the evacuation of dozens of wounded people and left Gaza critically short of emergency care.
“South Africa joins the global condemnation of the bombing, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” said DIRCO. “Israel has bombed, burned, and destroyed at least 35 hospitals in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023. Attacks on health facilities, medical personnel, and patients are considered a war crime under the IV Geneva Convention of 1949.”
According to the department, Israeli military forces also killed 15 humanitarian personnel in Gaza, eight Palestinian Red Crescent Society health workers, one staff member from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and six members of the Palestinian Civil Defense who were on a rescue mission on March 23.
“Deliberate attacks on medics and humanitarian workers are prohibited by international law and constitute war crimes. First responders like civilians and other non-combatants are never legitimate targets,” DIRCO stressed.
“We are also concerned that Israel has halted the entry of all aid into Gaza since March 2. This is in defiance of the binding provisional orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel to ensure unhindered access of humanitarian aid in Gaza,” said the department. “The international community must hold Israel accountable through effective counter-measures, as the impunity enjoyed by Israel has emboldened its genocidal actions in Palestine.”
In December 2023, South Africa approached the ICJ seeking an interdict for the court to compel Israel to halt attacks on Palestine and declare these acts as genocide. In January 2024, the UN court ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent acts of genocide and ensure humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
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JERUSALEM – More than 250 former officials of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency have signed a letter urging the government to immediately end the war in the Gaza Strip and bring about the release of the Israeli hostages still held there, Israel’s state-owned Kan TV News reported on Sunday.
According to the report, the signatories include three former Mossad chiefs: Danny Yatom, Efraim Halevy, and Tamir Pardo, as well as dozens of other veteran officials in the service.
The ex-Mossad members said, “Continued fighting endangers the lives of the hostages and our soldiers, and every possibility must be exhausted to reach an agreement that will end the suffering. We call on the government to make courageous decisions and act responsibly for the country’s security.”
They expressed support for hundreds of military aircrew members, in reserve or retired, who signed a similar letter, calling for a cessation of hostilities and the return of the hostages.
Following the publication of the aircrew members’ letter on Thursday, Israeli Air Force Commander Tomer Bar decided to terminate the service of active reservists among the signatories.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the dismissal decision and lashed out at such letters, calling the signatories “an extremist fringe group” attempting to “break Israeli society from within.”
Also on Sunday, about 200 Israeli military doctors signed a petition with the same demand for stopping the fighting and bringing home the hostages, according to several media outlets that published a copy of the letter.
“The continued fighting in Gaza is primarily intended to serve political and personal interests, without any security purpose, and endangers the lives of soldiers and hostages,” it said.
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JERUSALEM – Israel’s High Court of Justice on Tuesday issued an interim order, ruling that Ronen Bar, chief of the internal security service Shin Bet, would remain in his position until another court decision, state-owned Kan TV News reported.
The order followed an over 10-hour hearing on petitions filed by opposition factions and other organizations against the government’s March 21 decision to dismiss Bar due to “a lack of trust.”
As part of the decision, the court also ordered the government not to advance any move regarding ending Bar’s tenure, including announcing a replacement or acting head, and that his power should not be impaired.
The court also ruled that the government and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara may submit a joint statement on a settlement, if reached, by April 20.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the court’s decision is “puzzling” because the judges have reiterated several times that the government’s authority to remove the Shin Bet chief from office is not in dispute. It added that Netanyahu would continue interviewing candidates for the position.
The statement accused Baharav-Miara of trying to prevent Bar’s dismissal in any way possible under the pretext of “an active investigation” initiated by Bar.
On Friday, Baharav-Miara cautioned that the dismissal was fundamentally flawed and tainted by Netanyahu’s personal conflicts of interest, which include an ongoing criminal investigation against his associates. The attorney general referred to a case known as “Qatar-Gate,” which involves an inquiry into alleged undisclosed contacts between Netanyahu’s two close aides and Qatari officials.
On the same day, Bar wrote to the court that Netanyahu had repeatedly required him to issue an opinion citing security concerns to prevent Netanyahu’s continuous court testimony, a request Bar rejected.
He emphasized that the Shin Bet chief should not be “a position of trust” or a personal confidant of the prime minister but must maintain professional independence, warning against the possibility that the Shin Bet would become a secret police.
Tensions between Netanyahu and the Shin Bet have been growing over the handling of events before and during Israel’s multi-front conflicts with regional factions that erupted in October 2023 and the “Qatar-Gate” investigation.
XINHUA
RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM – The Israeli army killed a Palestinian woman on Tuesday in northern West Bank after she allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said.
“We are informed by the general authority for civil affairs that Amana Yaqou, 30, was killed by Israeli army near Salfit,” the ministry said in brief statement.
Palestinian security sources said the incident occurred when the woman reached the Haris/Gitai Avishar Junction, where the Israeli army opened fire on her “for allegedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack.”
Video footage widely circulated on social networks showed a woman lying on the ground, with several Israeli soldiers in uniform standing next to her, some of whom covered her body with a blanket.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday in a statement that its soldiers “neutralized” a woman who allegedly hurled rocks and attempted to stab Israeli soldiers adjacent to a junction near the Ariel settlement.
An Israeli military spokesperson told Israel Radio Kan that a knife was later found in the woman’s possession when her body was searched, and that no Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident.
Also on Tuesday, the IDF said in a separate statement that it has punished commanders and soldiers for spraying graffiti on buildings and vandalizing equipment during an operation on Wednesday at the Dheisha refugee camp close to the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
The operation was then stopped, and the graffiti has been covered up, the IDF said.
Following an investigation into the prohibited acts, the commander of the involved battalion and a company commander were reprimanded, another company commander, two other commanders and several soldiers involved in the incident were dismissed, and the platoon involved was dissolved, it said.
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ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized on Tuesday what he described as the “expansionist” ambitions of Israel in the Gaza Strip, cautioning that such actions would bring harm to all parties involved and undermine peace efforts across the region.
“Fueling tension, fanning flames and pursuing new maps with expansionist intentions will not benefit anyone,” Erdogan said at an event organized by his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the capital Ankara.
He cited the killings of civilians and healthcare workers in the Strip, adding that “just as we want peace in our own country, we want peace in Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, and Libya.”
The Turkish president emphasized Türkiye’s commitment to halting the violence and restoring peace in Gaza. “We are doing everything in our power to stop the massacres in Gaza, to achieve a ceasefire, and to open the road to peace,” he said.
XINHUA
JERUSALEM/GAZA – Israeli airstrikes killed at least 44 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency, following a rare rocket barrage fired from the enclave by Hamas militants.
Separately, Palestinian authorities reported that a 14-year-old Palestinian-American boy was fatally shot by Israeli forces during clashes in the occupied West Bank.
The violence escalated after Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, launched rockets into southern Israel earlier Sunday, which the group described as retaliation for Israeli “massacres” against Palestinian civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the rocket fire as “unacceptable” and vowed a “forceful response.”
The Israeli military stated that it intercepted most of the projectiles, though one rocket struck the city of Ashkelon, lightly wounding three people. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted airstrikes targeting suspected rocket launch sites in central Gaza, including Deir al-Balah. Witnesses reported sustained explosions overnight as strikes rocked the area.
Israel resumed large-scale air and ground operations in Gaza on March 18. Gaza’s health authorities said earlier on Sunday that these renewed offensives have killed at least 1,335 Palestinians and injured 3,297 others.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said a 14-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Mohammad Rabea, was fatally shot on Sunday during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Turmus Ayya. The IDF claimed troops engaged “terrorists” throwing stones at civilians, resulting in one death and two injuries. Palestinian officials, however, denounced the shooting as unprovoked, with Turmus Ayya’s mayor accusing an Israeli settler of instigating the violence.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has experienced intensified military raids since January, which Israel describes as counterterrorism operations. Palestinian leaders and residents accuse Israeli forces and settlers of escalating violence, exacerbating instability in the territory.
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LONDON – Amnesty International has warned Hungary that withdrawing from the International Criminal Court would not excuse it from failing to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced his intention for his country to leave the ICC on Thursday, saying he believed it had been “diminished into a political forum.”
He made the statement after welcoming Netanyahu to Budapest, where the Israeli premier is on an official four-day visit.
Netanyahu is the subject of an international arrest warrant, issued by the ICC, for alleged crimes committed during the war in Gaza.
Amnesty called Orban’s statement “a betrayal of all victims of war crimes,” which “undermines the protections afforded the Hungarian people, as it removes, in a year, their opportunity to seek justice at the ICC for crimes committed against them.”
In a statement, Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said: “Prime Minister Orban is harbouring a wanted ICC fugitive. Benjamin Netanyahu is accused by the ICC of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians.
“By welcoming Netanyahu, Hungary is effectively giving a seal of approval to Israel’s genocide, namely the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in whole or in part in Gaza.
“Leaders and officials from ICC member states must not participate in undermining the ICC through meeting with Netanyahu or any other ICC fugitives who are wanted by the Court.
“Netanyahu’s shameful trip to Hungary must not become an impunity tour of other ICC member states.”
Orban said he would ignore the ICC arrest warrant after it was issued last year, inviting Netanyahu personally to visit Hungary.
Withdrawal from the ICC is possible under Article 127 of the Rome Statute but takes a year to complete. During that time, Hungary’s legal obligations to the ICC remain in place.
“Hungary’s purported withdrawal from the ICC is a brazen and futile attempt to evade international justice and to stymy the ICC’s work,” Callamard said.
“This cynical announcement does not change the fact that Hungary still has a fundamental obligation to arrest and surrender Benjamin Netanyahu to the ICC.
“Any withdrawal would take effect in one year and must not distract from Hungary’s international legal obligations.
“The EU institutions and member states must be unequivocal about what this visit is: a direct attack by Hungary to undermine the ICC and its work, weaken the European Union at a time when it needs to stand strong and united, and an insult to all victims who are looking for justice.”
Callamard added: “The EU and all ICC member states must urgently call on Hungary to arrest and surrender Netanyahu and firmly commit to defending the Court from insidious threats to international justice which a visit of this kind represents.
“This moral bankruptcy must be stopped before it spirals into further damage for the international rules-based order.”
Amnesty noted that during the conflict so far at least 50,140 Palestinians have been killed, nearly 114,000 injured, and 1.9 million forcibly displaced by Israeli military activity.
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